2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumHelp me with the 'not voting for ___is a vote for ___' math....
let's say i don't vote for Hillary should she become the nominee...i just leave the space blank....
you say that is a vote for Trump....
what about the Repub that won't vote for Trump...and just leaves the space blank...
don't those two cancel each other out?
so...since both parties have flawed nominees (potentially) and presumably many on both sides will either skip voting or leave the Prez blank...
are you saying that Trump will still be able to generate enough votes (among those who do vote for Prez) to beat Hillary?...
why would that be?....it seems like to me that both HRC and Trump should just rely on their base(s), the people they appeal to, the people that believe in them, to bail them out....err...get them elected....
i really can't be worried if less people DON'T vote for Trump than DON'T vote for Hillary....
Thinkingabout
(30,058 posts)can not count that vote in the total votes the candidate would get so it would be a minus one, also if you don't vote and add one to the DNC candidate then in the final count there is one less vote for the DNC candidate. This one minus vote will be one less vote Trump will need, ergo not voting makes a minus one, and a vote Trump does not need in order to beat the DNC candidate.
LonePirate
(13,448 posts)Never trust a Republican to abandon his/her party in the election booth. The Repubs have far more party loyalty than Dems do.
CentralCoaster
(1,163 posts)I might have forgotten to carry the ermygerd.
Mike__M
(1,052 posts)Think of it this way
Susie has three apples.
Sammy has four apples.
Bobby does not give Susie an apple.
Bobby does not give Sammy an apple.
Therefore Susie has only two apples.
See how that works? It's math!
procon
(15,805 posts)It's not just as simple as skipping a single vote for president. If you live in a red state, given all the opportunities for voter suppression, tampering with ballots, and manipulating the vote count, that should be incentive enough to vote. Think your one missing protest vote won't count, remember the 2000 debacle in Florida where just 537 voters changed the course of history.
Vote ratios are also very important, and the number of Democratic votes cast will influence the Party's decisions affecting your state. If voter participation is high, more effort and money will go to that state to support things like increased voter registration activities, or funding down ballot candidates to tilt your state bluer and elect more Dems.
Most importantly, if the Democratic nominee wins by a large margin, the winner gains enormous power and clout over the GOP at all levels. That gives the Democrats the power to push through reforms and policies that the majority of voters want.
islandmkl
(5,275 posts)and it was not truly 537 votes that swayed that election....
#3: the last 6 years disproves that premise...
gollygee
(22,336 posts)When we don't do win by much, fewer progressive Democrats run. I think Bernie might have decided to run this year because President Obama did so well. He won by enough that Bernie thought he had a chance. I should say that he realized he had a chance. He's been doing very well.